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#269: Nightbirds by Labelle (1974)

2.08.2012

Nightbirds by Labelle (1974)

Favorite Track(s): "Lady Marmalade" and "Are You Lonely?" and "It Took a Long Time" and "Nightbird"

Thoughts: Hmm. Well I like Patti Labelle, and I love disco, and good girl groups too. But this album seems to be ranked this high because of one thing: "Lady Marmalade." Yes, it is a fantastic, funky song. But the rest of the album couldn't touch it. None of the other songs, even the ones I liked, could be considered worthy of this ranking. So I think "Lady Marmalade" should be ranked as one of top 500 songs of all time, but Nightbirds didn't deserve to be in the 200s. One stellar song does not make an otherwise good album worthy of 269. Unless it's some epic 9 minute song like "Purple Rain." (Which isn't to say that the rest of Purple Rain isn't so chock-a-block full of incredible songs that our human ears don't even deserve it, because it IS.)

I mean, don't get me wrong, I would listen to this album and this album only for the rest of my life before I would listen to another Eminem album. The production is quality, the singing exceptional, the songs enjoyable. I'm just surprised we're listening to it at this particular point.